This invention relates to an apparatus for receiving an individual rivet dispensed from a supply of rivets and positioning the rivet for a heading operation.
Automatic riveting machines are commonly used in manufacturing for fastening workpieces together. A supply of rivets is provided to the riveting machine which, in response to the manipulation of machine controls by an operator, drills a hole through the workpieces, locates an individual rivet with respect to the hole, and performs a heading operation on the rivet. Such riveting machines require apparatus for receiving an individual rivet from the supply and accurately positioning the rivet with respect to the hole drilled for it through the workpieces.
One such automatic riveting machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,832 to A. E. Filangeri et al. The riveting machine according to the disclosure of the Filangeri et al patent automatically senses the aggregate thickness of the materials to be joined together and, while a drilling operation is taking place, feeds a rivet of appropriate length to a spring gripper which is subsequently aligned with the hole being drilled.
In modern high-speed riveting machines, especially those which utilize rivets of different sizes during consecutive riveting operations, it is important that the apparatus which receives each individual rivet from the supply and positions it with respect to the hole in the workpieces be capable of rapid and uninterrupted operation; and it is also essential that each rivet delivered from the supply be gripped in precisely the correct orientation, with this correct orientation being maintained for locating the rivet with respect to its hole in the workpieces.